Recommended Reading: Alligators of Abraham author Robert Kloss’s alliga-terrific story “The Souls of Alligators.”
“The Souls of Alligators”
Tuesday New Release Day: Edugyan, D’Agata, Manguso, Ullman, Herbert, Shadid, Baseball
Esi Edugyan's Half-Blood Blues, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, is now out in the U.S. Also new this week are John D'Agata's much-discussed Lifespan of a Fact, Sarah Manguso's The Guardians, Ellen Ullman's By Blood and The Boiling Season by Christopher Hebert, who has an essay up on our site today. The new memoir by Anthony Shadid has seen its release date pushed up to this week. See our remembrance of Shadid. Finally, it's Christmas for baseball fans: the 2012 Baseball Prospectus is out.
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Time’s Authors with Influence
Somehow, I did not make Time's list of the 100 most influential people of 2011. But authors Jonathan Franzen, Jennifer Egan, George R.R. Martin, and "tiger mom" Amy Chua did.
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Audible Writers
Apropos of my literary YouTube posts, our own Mark O'Connell riffs on the speaking voice of several authors.
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Rethinking Art
What is the function of the art critic, anyway? According to Barry Schwabsky at The Nation, it is not "making or breaking" an artist, but rather "opening up perspectives without ... belaboring them." For the critically minded among you, here's a Millions review of A.O. Scott's new book Better Living Through Criticism.
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Are You Feeling Lucky?
Hobart’s got a “Wish List” for submissions to its next issue, and with any luck they might just pull it off.
A Day of Feast Among Years of Famine
In the spirit of giving thanks, our own Bill Morris recaps a memory for which he is especially grateful: watching the Detroit Lions kick the ever-loving steam out of their arch rival Green Bay Packers.
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On WTF Moments
At The Space Review, which bills itself as an online journal devoted to the final frontier, Jeff Foust takes a look at The Pioneer Detectives, our new e-book by Konstantin Kakaes. The verdict? “It’s a fascinating reminder of how complex and challenging the scientific process can be.”
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